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Mrs. Admin's manicurist gave her all the fixins to make Vietnamese spring rolls. A first for us, as pertains to the making, but not to the eating. YouTube was very helpful in demonstrating construction technique, and I will say 75% of them ended up being somewhat properly-made, and all were quite tasty regardless. My question would be, however, what is the best way to make them up and hold them in the fridge for, say, 24 hours without deterioration? There was enough to make a dozen, we ate 6 for dinner, and there are 6 left over. I have them on a plate under damp paper towel with plastic wrap over that, but is there a preferred way to store them that they don't stick together or dry out?

I've stored the extras simply by wrapping them individually in plastic wrap. I know that I've had them in the fridge for 3-5 days. The texture of the rice paper was a little drier, but with the amount of peanut sauce I like it really wasn't a problem.

Sidenote: For peanut sauce I just mix together some fresh unsalted peanut butter (usually ground at whole paycheck), hoisin sauce, sriracha (or other hot Asian style chili sauce), soy sauce, maybe a little honey if I'm looking for a little sweeter component, and some toasted sesame oil.

Don't make them ahead and hold for more than a few hours. The wrappers get rubbery, even if you wrap in plastic or a damp paper towel. A la minute is the best way to go.

Yeah, in retrospect, just putting the stuffings in containers and making them up later would have been a better course. I think I was just interested in seeing if I could better nail down the rolling technique while I still had everything in front of me.

Speaking of, I see some start to roll, fold in the sides, and then continue to roll, while others fold the sides in first, and then roll. Is there a technique that's more "official", or is it just however "Mama used to make them"?

Also, in one video, the rice paper soak was so short, the wrapper still crackled (but did not rip) when the maker rolled it. I was giving each a 5-second dip, after which no brittleness remained.

As fast as Kim Anh's brings your order, I'd be willing to bet they make them in advance. I sure do devour them so I couldn't say whether the paper is rubbery or not-BUT-if this is in fact the same paper used in rice paper rolls at Rock-n-Sake, I prefer it rubbery.

Semi hijack side note...About 10 years ago a Vietnamese coworker invited me over for dinner. His wife prepared spring rolls and I'm not sure what else but I know I enjoyed it immensely. Funny thing was she pulled out a bottle of White Zinfandel ...or maybe even Riunite and I thought , "mmmm...great...not!" but I must admit it was perfect with the meal.
So... go ahead and crack open that box of Rose' the inlaws left over!;)

hungryone wrote:Don't make them ahead and hold for more than a few hours. The wrappers get rubbery, even if you wrap in plastic or a damp paper towel. A la minute is the best way to go.

Of course there's some degradation storing them. But it's not that significant and the convenience of having them already made and ready for a snack far out weighs the little rubbery-ness. I personally don't mind them left over.

I watched dozens of women speed-rolling spring rolls at the Mary Queen of Vietnam church fair (every year at Tet/Lunar New Year). All had personal styles, but one consistent thing I noticed: the noodles & salad components of the roll were placed on the wrapper, and one side was folded over those items; next, the protein ingredient (shrimp, pork skin/bi, shredded pork, etc) was placed on top of the folded-in wrapper flap, then the sides were folded in and the rolling finished. The whole thing was more stable this way, and the roll doesn't come apart as you bite into it.

I'll have to give that a try. BTW, the leftover rolls were fine, and stickiness was not a material issue.